This invention relates to electronic systems by which bills are presented and paid.
One prior art bill presentment and payment system is disclosed in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,206 (hereinafter the Visa patent). In this system, a customer receives a bill from a biller; and in response, the customer mails a check back to the biller. This check is then presented by the biller to the biller's bank for payment. Then the biller's bank sends the check to a settlement bank which clears and settles the transfer of funds between the biller's bank and the customer's bank. Following this settlement step, funds are transferred by the biller's bank to the biller's account where it is available for withdrawal.
In a second prior art bill presentment and payment system (which is disclosed in FIGS. 2A & 2B of the Visa patent), a customer responds to a bill from a biller by electronically sending a message to a service bureau, and this electronic message authorizes the service bureau to pay the bill. Upon receipt of the message, the service bureau writes a check on the customer's account in the customer's bank and presents that check to the service bureau's bank for payment. Then, the service bureau's bank sends the check to a settlement bank which clears and settles the transfer of funds between the service bureau's bank and the customer's bank. This sequence of steps is repeated many times for many customers of the biller. Thereafter, the service bureau sends the biller a list of all of the bills that were paid along with a single check for the total amount paid.
In a third prior art bill presentment and payment system (which is disclosed in FIG. 3 of the Visa patent), a biller obtains regular periodic payments from a customer's account in a customer's bank with those payments being initiated by the biller, rather than the customer. With this method, the biller maintains a file which identifies the customer, the amount of the periodic payment, and the date on which each payment is due. To initiate each payment, the biller electronically sends a request for payment to the biller's bank; and in response, the biller's bank generates a debit request in a certain standard format, which is required by an automated clearing house (ACH). This debit request is then stored in the biller's bank, along with all other ACH debit and credit requests which the biller's bank generates for other customers. Thereafter, a batch of ACH debit and credit requests are electronically transmitted to the Federal Reserve or other ACH clearing institution; and by this transmission, net accounts between the biller's bank and the customer's bank are settled.
In a fourth prior art bill presentment and payment system (which is disclosed in FIGS. 4-12 of the Visa patent), the biller's bank, the customer's bank, and a settlement bank are all intercoupled by an electronic payment network. With this method, a customer responds to a bill from a biller by ordering the customer's bank to pay the bill. In response, the customer's bank examines the customer's account to determine if sufficient funds are available to pay the bill or determine that the customer's bank is willing to take the risk of loss if funds are not available. If either determination is made, the customer's bank electronically sends a payment message through the payment network to the biller's bank. Each such payment message is also stored in the payment network where it is acted upon by a settlement subsystem which nets the funds that are being transferred by all payment messages between the customer's bank and the biller's bank. Thereafter, the settlement subsystem electronically sends a transfer order to the settlement bank which settles the net accounts between the customer's bank and the biller's bank. By this settlement step, funds are transferred by the biller's bank to the biller's account.
However, a major drawback in all of these prior art systems is that no means is provided for electronically presenting the bill to the customer before it is paid. In the systems of FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the bill is physically sent to the customer by conventional post office mail; and in the system of FIG. 3, the bill is paid without ever being sent to the customer.
Further, if the above prior art systems were somehow modified such that the bill was sent electronically rather than by mail, then a new problem would arise because the customer would not have any documentation from the biller to establish the amount of the bill. Consequently, after a payment is made by the customer, a biller could increase the amount due in the bill and claim that the increased amount was in the original bill.
Also, if the above prior art systems were somehow modified such that checks are eliminated and all payments occur electronically, then another new problem arises in that no canceled checks are generated to establish the amount of payment which was authorized. Consequently, after payment of a certain amount of funds is made electronically, a customer can subsequently claim that only a smaller payment was authorized and/or a biller can subsequently claim that a larger payment was authorized.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an all electronic bill presentment and payment system which employs hashes and digital signatures to avoid cheating by a biller and/or customer.